Somebody's Daughter

Through poverty, adolescence, and a fraught relationship with her mother, Ashley Ford wishes she could turn to her father for hope and encouragement. There are just a few problems: he’s in prison, and she doesn’t know what he did to end up there. She doesn’t know how to deal with the incessant worries that keep her up at night, or how to handle the changes in her body that draw unwanted attention from men.

In her search for unconditional love, Ashley begins dating a boy her mother hates. When the relationship turns sour, he assaults her. Still reeling from the rape, which she keeps secret from her family, Ashley desperately searches for meaning in the chaos. Then, her grandmother reveals the truth about her father’s incarceration...and Ashley’s entire world is turned upside down.

Somebody’s Daughter steps into the world of growing up a poor, Black girl in Indiana with a family fragmented by incarceration, exploring how isolating and complex such a childhood can be. As Ashley battles her body and her environment, she embarks on a powerful journey to find the threads between who she is and what she was born into, and the complicated familial love that often binds them.

Somebody’s Daughter is read by the author, and includes a bonus conversation with Clint Smith, the author of How the Word is Passed.

This discussion guide was shared and sponsored in partnership with Macmillan Audio.

Book club questions for Somebody's Daughter by Ashley C. Ford

Use these discussion questions to guide your next book club meeting.

Did listening to the author read her personal story enhance the experience for you? How do you imagine the listening experience differs from reading Somebody’s Daughter?

So much of the audiobook revolves around the way our childhoods have lasting effects on who we are as adults. Could you relate to any of Ashley’s experiences?

How does Ashley’s relationship with her mother and father differ from yours? How does it compare?

Discuss the ways in which Ashley handles (or struggles to handle) fulfilling the various roles she must play as a daughter, granddaughter, sister, partner, friend … How does she balance these roles with developing and maintaining her own identity? Does she succeed?

In chapter 7, we hear a powerful anecdote about garden snakes and their inclination to stick together when faced with danger. How does this scene present itself as a theme throughout the audiobook?

Did you enjoy the bonus conversation between Ashley Ford and Clint Smith? Did either of their perspectives on writing surprise you?

Somebody's Daughter Book Club Questions PDF

Click here for a printable PDF of the Somebody's Daughter discussion questions

“Sure to be one of the best memoirs of 2021.” ―Kirkus Reviews, starred review

“So clear, sharp, and smooth that the reader sees, in vivid focus, Ford’s complicated childhood, brilliant mind, and golden heart. Ford is a writer for the ages, and Somebody’s Daughter will be a book of the year.” ―Glennon Doyle, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Untamed

“Ford’s wrenchingly brilliant memoir is truly a classic in the making. The writing is so richly observed and so suffused with love and yearning that I kept forgetting to breathe while reading it.” ―John Green, #1 New York Times bestselling author

"This remarkable, heart-wrenching story of loss, hardship, and self-acceptance astounds." (Publishers Weekly, starred review)